MIFFLINBURG, Pa. — Fifth graders from Mifflinburg Intermediate School want people to know it's cool to be kind. After a rocky start to the school year, teacher Mark Alexander showed the students videos about kindness and why it's important to do things for others. The students were inspired by the videos.
"I just thought that we could do something like that, so I asked if we could do it. We did about a month of planning," said fifth grader Connor Resseguie.
The fifth graders formed a club called Hoping Hands. They decided to raise money for Kelsey's Dream, a nonprofit based in Mifflilnburg that helps children with cancer.
"We did a coin drive. Our teacher does music. He got money for that from a tip jar. The money just kept coming in," Resseguie said.
"They did chores, they sold things, they did whatever they could to raise money. They set a goal of $5,000," Alexander said.
The students exceeded that goal, raising more than $8,000 for Kelsey's Dream. They presented a check to Kelsey's mom Tina Kuhns, who says the money will go towards the purchase of "Hopper the Cancer Crusher" toys. The toys are given to children with cancer in nearly 200 hospitals across the country.
"This will really help boost that fund for those. That's a big expense for us. We feel keeping them in stock is very important so when children are diagnosed, they have them immediately," Kuhn's said.
Alexander is proud of his students.
"They've turned themselves around, and I've seen a lot of their hearts change for the better. I just want them to know that there's more to life than high PSSA scores. I think it's also important to become great human beings. That was the lesson to be learned here," Alexander said.
Even though this was the last day of school, the students were already thinking about who they will help next year.
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